The history of the Lincolnshire Barn Owl Project.

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Northern Optics Binoculars
http://www.northernoptics.co.uk

The Lincolnshire Bird Club is grateful to Northern Optic for sponsoring the equipment used to run the Lincolnshire Barn Owl project. More details on Northern Optics can be found at http://www.northernoptics.co.uk/

The History - Pair No 2. Sept 2011 -

Our second Barn Owl webcam of the 2011 season is near Horncastle. The camera is in a nest box on top of an oak tree pole 20/25 ft high. It is wireless fed from the bottom of Bird Club member Vic Atkinson’s longish garden and was installed in November 2010.

The box was installed in 2005 or 2006 and first produced owl chicks in 2008 when 3 were ringed. In 2009, Jackdaws used the box. In 2010 again 3 owl chicks were ringed.

This year the adults were first seen in the box on 20th July. Mating took place for several days. The egg dates are as follows.....

Egg 1 laid on 24th July
Egg 2 laid on 26th July
Egg 3 laid on about 29th July
Egg 4 laid on 30th July
Egg 5 seen on 31st July
Egg 6 laid 4th August
Egg 7 laid 8th August

The chicks began to hatch a month later on these dates.....

August 24th, 26th, 29th, September 1st, 5th and there is still at least one egg left.

It is very likely that this nest is a second brood and the owls have bred somewhere close by earlier in the season. This is a good year for small mammals  but the adult Barn Owls will have to work hard and be lucky with the weather to raise a significant number of these chicks.

The History - Pair No 1. April - July 2011

We are fortunate in Lincolnshire that we have the most breeding Barn Owls anywhere in the UK and they breed at the highest density in the UK. There are approximately 900 pairs in Lincolnshire.

This camera is in a pole box in the paddock behind a house in a village north of Sleaford, and shown in the image below.

The box has been up for three years but this year is the first time the owls have been successful. The chicks were predated at an early stage in 2009.

The camera was installed last Christmas 2009.

The 2010 Breeding Season

From mid March the owls were sometimes in the box, but from the beginning of April the female was ever present.
Three eggs were laid.
 Egg 1 on 26th April
 Egg 2 on 29th April
 Egg 3 on 2nd May

A month later the chicks hatched.
Chick 1 on 27th May
Chick 2 on 30th May
Chick 3 on 2nd June

Since then they have had mixed fortunes. The heavy rains on two days in early June meant hunting was difficult. The male didn’t provision the nest as much as he should, leading us to believe he could have another  mate in a nest nearby. Somehow, the chicks made it through.

However, on the morning of 16th June, one of the babies was eaten by a sibling. This is not uncommon in Barn Owls.
Later that day, the female and remaining two chicks were ringed under licence.

Soon the chicks will be big enough to be left in the evenings whilst the female hunts as well.

 

	Two birds in a box 15th May 2010 Click here
	The third egg 2nd May 2010 Click here
	The second egg 29th April 2010 Click here
	The first egg 26th April 2010 Click here

 

Financial support

Main Sponsor - Northern Optics - http://www.northernoptics.co.uk

Colin Shawyer, Wildlife conservation Partnership
Lincolnshire Bird Club

Advice
Ed Drewitt
Nick Brown
Nick Dixon
Nick Moyes

Project team
Bob Sheppard
Alan Ball
Andrew P Chick